Personal Care Attendant Quality
Home Care Workforce Council
One Ashburton Place, Room 1109
Boston, MA 02108
Recruitment and Retention Subcommittee
Minutes
February 16, 2007
1:00 P.M. to 3:00 P.M.
Manning Conference Room
GOVERNANCE COMMITTEE MEMBERS IN ATTENDANCE
Liz Casey (telephonically), Paul Spooner, Joseph Tringali
OTHER COUNCIL MEMBERS ALSO IN ATTENDANCE
Eileen Brewster
SUBCOMMITTEE CHAIE
Liz Casey was unanimously endorsed as the Subcommittee Chair.
NOTE TAKER
Rachel Richards
AGENDA SETTING
No issues were added to previously-issued agenda
Review/Discussion of Registry Sites
There was general discussion about the purpose of a Registry. There was consensus amongst the Subcommittee members that a Registry should be a list of job applicants indicating their interest in performing PCA work, and providing Consumers with the ability to search the Registry for potential applicants that meet their needs according to a defined set of search criteria. There was agreement that any Registry would not be a list of potential PCAs recommended by the Council as the Council would not be confirming the validity of the information submitted or otherwise conducting reference checks of the applicants. There was discussion of the need for the Registry to convey caveats to such effect.
There was discussion of what specific data elements and features should be included in a Registry. Data elements identified for inclusion included: name, phone, address, area of state willing to be employed, transportation availability, work hours of availability, limitations, special skills or training such as CPR, Red Cross training, or experience with specific disabilities, languages spoken, and references. There was discussion about ability for Consumers to search for potential applicants by zip code and by specific mile radius from their home.
There was discussion about whether there should be a fee assessed on Consumers and PCAs who use the Registry. There was consensus that no fee should be charged to MassHealth members. The Subcommittee members left open for future discussion whether fees should be assessed for “private pay” individuals.
There was consensus within the Subcommittee that a Registry would need to be supported by a Customer Services Staff that would be available to speak with Consumers not interested in or unable to use the internet.
Recruitment
There was a very brief discussion about recruitment of potential PCAs including discussion about what plan could be implemented to use existing resources such as those at Career Centers, Unemployment Offices, in other State offices, etc. There was also a general discussion about how individuals with disabilities might best be recruited to be PCAs and what the Council’s obligation is under its enabling statute to facilitate the recruitment of recipients of public assistance or other low-income persons.
Retention
There was general discussion of how best to retain PCAs including discussion of wages and benefits. A question was raised about whether MassHealth would consider paying differential rates for more highly skilled or experienced PCAs. There was a discussion of the recently created MassHealth Payment Advisory Board, and a suggestion was made that the Council could write to the MassHealth Payment Advisory Board and ask the Board to consider this matter – as a reimbursement principle necessary to secure and retain a critical community workforce - in its deliberations. Liz offered to draft such a letter for the full Council’s consideration.
Administrative and financial resources
There was a general discussion about the need for resources to support the work of the Council. Mr. Spooner updated the Subcommittee on the discussion of the Governance Subcommittee regarding this matter. It was agreed that the thoughts of the two Subcommittees regarding budget development would be combined into one memorandum for review at the Council meeting on February 26th.
Other business
There was discussion about the status of the PCA list and Subcommittee members were advised that the Commonwealth had the list.
Subcommittee members asked about the Labor Relations Commission and members present were given copies of a notice issued by the LRC in January.
Next steps
The next meeting of the R & R Subcommittee needs to be scheduled after consultation with the Subcommittee chair.